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<\/p>\nFor those of us who like their jazz funky, their funk jazzy, and some other flavours thrown in, the release of Brooklyn Funk Essentials\u2018 8th studio album, Black Butterfly, will be music to the proverbials.<\/p>\n
The eclectic outfit of mixed instrumentalists, singers, and multitalented artists has changed personnel a little over the years, but at the heart, Lati Kronlund still beats the bass and keyboards for the project he started in 1993 with New York producer Arthur Baker.<\/p>\n
The on-off-on nature of the Essentials\u2019 existence has led to lineup changes, but Kristoffer Wallman, an original funkster, is back in the fold on keyboards and synths. Desmond Foster on guitar and vocals has been knocking around since joining at the end of last century, and drummer Hux Nettermalm has been keeping time since 2014. Singer Alison Limerick joined in 2016 and co-wrote Black Butterfly with Kronlund (Arthur Baker gets a co-writing credit for Never Give Up). On brass and vocals are Ebba \u00c5sman and J\u00e9ssica Pina, with Loic Gayot on saxophone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And, as you\u2019d expect from that part of the world, the music they play is a melting pot of styles blending influences from Soul, Hip Hop, Jazz, Latin, Funk and Spoken Word in a melange of beats, melody, harmony and poly-rythmic madness that had me wriggling in my chair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Make that hop around as I got up to put the jug on.<\/p>\n
While the message may be familiar and the sounds not quite as fresh as when they rocked the scene three decades ago, the Essentials still have it in spades.<\/p>\n
Blackout opens the album with a bongo roll and Foster speaking \u2013 I looked outside, And everything was white!<\/p>\n
The groove is a James Brown style funk with various interjections of recorded news-sounding statements \u2013 I looked out over Wall Street, the World Trade Centre and Brooklyn Bridge. And everything was pitch black \u2013 The Blackout continues with breakneck brass and ambient (city) sounds.<\/p>\n
Bust The Bus Stop, previously released as a single on high-rotate on BBC Radio 2, Jazz FM and 6 Music in the UK, has elements of Parliament and a nod to Rose Royce (Car Wash). Sexy synths and silky singers compete with more of that cool brass section.<\/p>\n
Other singles from the album include the aforementioned Never GIve Up, with Limerick and Foster showing their vocal talents in a standard jazz funk track \u2013 Don\u2019t let nobody stop you, It\u2019s so hard to be soft, In a world built for the hustle, Rich keep blaming the poor\u2026 Don\u2019t you give up on love \u2013 Keep it inside, Though you feel your heart is breaking, Never give up on love \u2013 Follow your vibe-oh, It\u2019s yourself you\u2019d be forsaking.<\/p>\n
And an excellent Afrobeat-influenced cover of Talking Heads\u2019 Life During Wartime, a song that still resonates to the wider world today despite being over 40 years old.<\/p>\n
The title track closes out the album with a dreamy, jazzy sound and Limerick\u2019s soulful voice \u2013 Black butterfly, Your time, Flutter into the clouds, Long range, Everything change, Black gold, What will the future hold?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe black butterfly is a symbol of hope, renewal and inevitable change,\u201d explains Kronlund in the album notes.\u00a0 \u201cA continuation of the band\u2019s groove r-evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the standout for me is track 4, Voodoo Gates: Afro-jazz, latin vibes, soul sonics, and some mournful brass make for a musical mash-up to dance to, to ponder, and to relish for all of its 7-plus minutes.<\/p>\n
It may not be a new sound, but it\u2019s a welcome chance to reflect on the evolution of this genre and what a banging band Brooklyn Funk Essentials continue to be.<\/p>\n
Alex Robertson<\/p>\n
Black Butterfly is out now via Dorado Records<\/a><\/p>\n ![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/04dd9a4dfce33a4e6ddc068945c8c332d7e201a9d4c8f92d7e7d87b4efb35be5.jpeg\")
<\/a> <\/a>Latest posts by Alex Robertson (see all<\/a>) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For those of us who like their jazz funky, their funk jazzy, and some other flavours thrown in,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-231851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}